Protective garment for divers



Oct. 2, 1951 wo K 2,570,019

PROTECTIVE GARMENT FOR DIVERS Filed Feb. 17, 1948 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 EUGENIO WOLK,

ATTORNEYS.

Oct. 2, 1951 WOLK PROTECTIVE GARMENT FOR DIVERS 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 17, 1948 INVENTOR. EUGENIO WOLK Oct. 2, 1951 WOLK 2,570,019

PROTECTIVE GARMENT FOR DIVERS Filed Feb. 17, 1948 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 FIG/7 INVENTOR. EUGENIO WOLK BY Jain, ,6

TTORNEYS.

Patented Oct. 2, 1951 PROTECTIVE GARMENT FOR DIVERS Eugenio Wolk, Venice, Italy, assignor to Pirelli Societa Per Azioni, Milan, Italy Application February 17, 1948, Serial No. 8,904

In Italy, January 17, 1946 Section 1, Public Law 690, August 8,1946

Patent expires January 17, 1966 l l 7 Claims. (01. 2-2.1)

, This invention relates to improvements in protective garments for underwater divers and more particularly has reference to such garments made of light sheet rubber or similar elastic material and means for rendering the openings of said garments watertight for underwater wear.

In the prior art, protective garments for underwater operations, such as rescues, explorations and fishing, have generally been made of heavy rubber fabric of such weight and composition as to be more or less stiff and inflexible. Such garments had two serious disadvantages, one of which is that they more or less hindered the free movements of the diver, and the other is that they formed stiff folds, because the garment did not conform closely to the contours of the body. These folds, stiffened by water pressure, often pinched very painfully into the flesh of the diver.

An object of this invention is to provide a garment which avoids these disadvantages by employing a light, soft and flexible sheet rubber or similar elastic material which clings to the contours of the body, without forming stiff folds, and affords the diver maximum freedom of Inovement and comfort. It also permits the diver to wear underneath the garment a thick woolen undersuit to prevent undue loss of body heat in cold water.

Another object of this invention is to provide means for preventing the entrance of water into the garment when submerged and especially through the joint between the coat and pants of said garment.

With these and other objects in view which may be incident to my improvements, my invention consists of the combination and arrangement of elements hereinafter described and i1- lustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 shows in front elevation the coat of my improved protective garment for underwater divers;

Fig. 2 shows in front elevation the pants of my improved protective garment for underwater divers;

Figs. 3 and 4 show, partly in' front elevation and partly in central vertical section, my novel means of assembling the coat and pants in watertight relationship when worn by the diver;

Fig. 4a is an enlarged fragmentary view of the section through the folded garment and belt por tion shown in Fig. 4;

Fig. 5 shows, in front elevation, the completely assembled garment for underwater operations; Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the inner belt of my improved garment; and

Fig. 7 is a similar view of the outer belt for same. f

Referring to the drawings, and particularly to Figs. 1 and 2, it will be noted that my improved garment consists of two principal pieces, a coat or blouse'l, and apair of pants 2, each provided with elongated trunkportions 3 and 4, to permit of an extensive overlap over the central portion of the body. The coat I is provided with a collar 5 and sleeves B, integrally attached thereto. Each sleevecarries an integrally attached cufl 6a. These cuffsand the collar are made of very thin and highly elastic rubber sheet of such size as to permit the insertion ofthe hands and head therethrough by stretching. The tension in the cuffs and collarpis such as to cause them .to cling and adhere closely to the wrists and neck, thereby insuring a watertight fit. Moreover, the flexibility of .the cuffsand collar is such as to cause a tighter fit withincreasing external water pressure. The pants 2 are provided at their lower extremities with integrally attached shoes 1. The coat and pants are made in various sizes to closely fit the body and their elasticity is such that when donned they closely adhere to the body contours. a

One of the most difficult problems in connection with two-piece underwater divers garments is to prevent the entrance of water by seepage through the joint around the waist between the coat and pants. I have solved this problem by joining the coat and pants together by a novel system of multiple overlapping folds of the waist ends of said coat and pants, in the manner shown in Figs. 3 and 4. By reference to Fig. 3, it will be seen that the skirt 3 of the coat I is drawn up on the outside of the coat and then folded down over'the upper end of the pants, so as to form a U-shaped fold 8 enclosing the upper edge of the pants 2. The fold 8 is then bent down over its outer edge so as to form a U-shaped fold 9 in the upper end of pants 2, interlocking with U- shaped fold 8 in the manner shown in Fig. 4a. Fold 9 not only interlocks with the fold 8, but also embraces it, forming an integral cincture l0 around the waist of the diver, as shown in Fig. 5. Because of the elasticity of the sheet rubber or similar elastic material of the coat and pants, the cincture I0 closely embraces the body of the a novel scheme of two inter ocking be ts,

rubber l2 having formed in its buter-fac'eaconcave groove l3 and is reinforced on its inner face by a closely adhering, thin, flexibleeteelloand 14, which projects beyond one end of rubber band I2, forming a tongue l5, adapted to be inserted into a plurality of keepers l6, integrallyiattached to the inner face of the other end of the steel band I l. The rubber band l2 has squared ends I! adapted to closely abut each other, when belt .1! d a nii i shi by o ter e t a so as to leave no gapbetweensaid ends 11. v "';Ihe outer 7b 1t Ill is formed of a flexible and somewhat elastic rope, adapted-to be held tightly around the waist 6f the --d i-ver by a traction 5110 515519.

Belts Ii and I8 are applied in donned position as follows." After the first 'U shaped fold 8 is madeL-in coat has indicated above (Fig. 8), the inner belt -l'l is' put on' over the trunk-4 of pants L2, just below the fold B,'-as indicated in Fig.3 .and then 'slipped v11p ton trunlzn l until .it abuts lrsnug -v against the fewer, putter edgepfthefo d -13; The 101C128 iis-then folded down overth rbelt ,1 it to o m th olds; d scribed abo e nd -sh il 'ia 4; there y ght y embracin the V -belt-i-l hetween thefeldsaandB. Theouter belt AB is then-.appliedaroundthe-drivers waist over :themiddle ofinner belt iltl ,(and-yfoldfll .and is smade tightrby buckle 19: When i rthis position, the con lx surfac of be tJLdeiOrm the exibie li ldsfi intoithe .concaye groove 1 ,3l of inner belt] I. T is n niun dc ta t n t only serves t l th b lt J8 firml infixe l position,butbylpr ssin "tnegfpldill. ntcconcavegroovc 13 of the belt o forms-a fluted, water-t ght oint betwe th coa 1 andihclpants p at all imes e en when L the diver'is engaged in heavy exertion.

While :I have shown and described the prefer-red embodiment of my invention, I desire it ts be understood 'thatI'do notlimit myself to the precise details of construction shown'by way of illustration, as these may be changed and modified {in combination and arrangement by those skil ed in the art :without vdeparting from ":the spirit. of myirrventionor exceeding the scope :of theappended claims.

' .Icla ma:

K .1. A wo-pi c --protecti e arm t for und rwater-diving -comprising aaseparate coat and :pants vwithshoes integrally attached, both v,co at and :pants made-of elastic and waterproof material adapted to closelyembrace the divers body, s id c h n i g ally. attached. annular collar and cuffs of relatively thinner and more elastic material, also adapted to closely embrace the divers neck and wrists and to increase such embracement with increase of external water ressure.

" 12 ,A arment according to claim 1, wherein the coat and pants each have'waist portions extended te such lengths as to permit multiple overlying 3. A two-piece protective garment for under- ,water diving comprising a separate coat and pants pf elastic and waterproof material adapted to closely embrace the divers body and, joined Ftogetherby multiple overlying folds of adjacent ends of each, thereby forming a watertight joint between said coat and pants.

together-by multiple interlockingfolds of adjacent portions of. each, thereby forming alwater- Ztig-ht iointbetween said coat and pants.

5. A -multiple-piece' protective garment for :underwater ediying .comprising a separate coat, .pants and belt, all made of elastic and waterproof material adaptedto closely embrace the divers body said coat and pants being joined together by .'multiple interlocking folds of ad-iaCent portions of each, said folds being held inintimate contact :by the elastic tension ,of said belt and :thereby forming a watertight joint between'said ,lcoat a nd pants.

6, A garment according tol claim 5 wherein t e-b ltconsist o i er a d a t band, adapt d to e a ti ally embr ce he folds of the coat nd pan betw en sai b n n a com- ..presscd and inde tured contact w th e ch other, thereby preventing accidental separation of said folds romcach QH QL- '7. In an lunderwater protective garme nt, a waist belt comprising an inner and an ,outer'band, said outer bandbeingcomposed of elastic material, said inner band beingcomposed of soft resilient material, reinforced by a flexible metal liner and having a'eoncave groove in its outer face, adaptedto form a seat for said outer band and thereby hold in the elastic embrace of said outer band adjacent portions of said garment inserted between said bands in an indentured, watertight contact with each other.

EUGENIO W OLK.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file .of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,306,488 Morner Dec. 29, 1942 2,388,674 Browne Nov. 13, 1945 2,390,462 Rosenberg Dec. 4:, 1945 232 25 3 A e man a al, ,,June ,3, 1 

